Untitled - Laboratory of Neurophysics and Physiology

Morten Kringelbach, Oxford
Maxime Guye, Marseille
Michael Breakspear, Brisbane
Gustavo Deco, Barcelona
W20
Validating neuro-computational models of neurological and psychiatric disorders
Space Curie, Thu, 9:00-17:30
Basabdatta Sen Bhattacharya, University of Lincoln, Lincoln, UK
Fahmida Chowdhury, NSF, Arlington, VA, USA
Recent years have seen a widespread interest in applying computational models to underpin the
neural correlates in neurological and psychiatric disorders, which is essential for drug discovery, disease
prediction and better diagnostics. Neuro-computational models are abstractions of highly complex
biological circuitry and/or phenomena at a level appropriate to the modeller’s target ’problem’. An
essential condition for models simulating real world phenomena to be ’usable’ is to validate them
in order to avoid erroneous understanding and potentially conflicting predictions. In other words, a
model can be deemed useful as a tool to aid the understanding and treatment of disease conditions
only if it is validated with experimental data. Currently, there is a rich repertoire of computational
models, mimicking the functionalities and behaviour of various brain parts. However, the immense
diversity in modelling and validation approaches across the globe makes it difficult to compare results,
even for similar brain functionality. In addition, validation techniques as well as the experimental data
used for validation are not ’homogeneous’. Moreover, being a multidisciplinary field, a structured and
co-ordinated approach to benchmark and/or set standards for validation methods and techniques is
yet to be initiated. The aim of this workshop is to bring together Engineers and Scientists who work
on modelling brain behaviour to discuss
• Potential methods of meaningful validation of neuro-computational models with experimental
data.
• Ways of benchmarking validation of different modelling approaches towards a given goal (e.g.
modelling anomalies in EEG), so that different models may be compared in meaningful ways.
• Potential new collaborations and leverage existing ones to advance the field.
The expected outcome is a report or white paper written by the group (including the speakers and
any interested persons from the audience) to present their findings and a few action items.
Speakers:
Dr. Piotr Suffczynski, Associate Professor, University of Warsaw, Poland
Dr. Romain Brette, Associate Professor, Ecole Normale Superieure, Paris, France
Dr. Claudio Babiloni, Associate Professor, University of Rome "La Sapienza", Rome, Italy
Prof. Ingo Bojak, University of Reading, UK
Dr. Rosalyn Moran, Assistant Professor, Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute, USA
Dr. Dimitrios Pinotsis, UCL, UK
Dr. Udo Ernst, Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of Bremen, Germany
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